Ninufa
by Weeping Lilac
Summary: Pasts and mysteries shroud Ninufa like a veil of clothes. Who... or what... was he before the Contract? When feelings emerge, his carefully woven secrets will be unraveled. Terms are breached. And he won't go away unscathed. A play-it-by-ear story that hopefully won't veer off plot.
1. Myosotis Forget-Me-Not

**Disclaimer: **The manga _Barajou No Kiss_ or in the alternative English version, _Kiss of the Rose Princess_, is the rightful property of the exceptionally creative author and my current favorite artist Shouoto Aya. The English translation of the manga is scanlated by the ever wonderful staffs of _Turtle–Paradise… _which, I'm slowly but surely falling in love with. I mean, who could resist those cute turtles?

**Author(I'm an author? eeeeek)'s Note: **_Second_ try at a fanfic. The first one was done about a year ago with The Familiar of Zero fandom, but then I decided it wasn't exactly 'top-notch' and chickened out. Ah, the curse of being a perfectionist. However, after a brief conversation with _FernandelDeLaFrance_(check out his stories.'Cause he's definitely a better writer than I am) , I decided that mistakes are the keys to achievement and just _take the first step—_crappy writing and cheesy story be damned_._

**1) **Chapters will be in 100–500 words… or less

**2) **Criticism is welcome

**3) **I need a Beta to go _Commando _on me when I've made a mistake. Don't worry, I won't wail! :'D

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**~1~**

**Myosotis; Forget-Me-Not**

Ninufa's smile was a frightening thing—full of sharp teeth and unspoken secrets— as the tip of his tail swiped against the Rose Princess' nose, feather light. She squirmed, but didn't wake. Pale moonlight had shone through her bedroom window to illuminate her figure, making it easier for him to observe her sprawled form on the bed. The sheets were tossed aside during her writhing.

Ever since that day, that startling encounter which tied their fates together, he'd made it a routine— slipping into her room in the middle of the night, teasing her, watching her. It was an expected duty of his, as the Guardian, to keep an eye on the new Rose Princess until she learned the full capacity of her powers. So it wasn't exactly _creepy_, no matter what his conscious said. It was simply business. Still, he couldn't resist the occasional toe-tweaking or twirling a few locks of her hair, just for fun.

Tonight, he felt daringly frisky.

As Anis' breathing started to even out, the velvety fur of his tail, soft as rabbit's ears, stroked her face and he snickered when she growled irritably. Her hand batted at empty air.

_Here kitty, kitty._

A poke, a brush, a tweak, a tug— he did everything he could to make her whimper and squirm, carefully tickling her senses on edge, and always backing out when she was close to consciousness. More than once, he found himself longing for limbs lost: his claws, for example, so that he could drag the tips gently across her skin, leaving white trails in their wake.

Ninufa frowned. How many centuries had it been since he'd wished for his previous form? That dark, dark form, sullied by blood and dust and violence. The form that had been his greatest achievement and his damnable undoing.

His playful fire winked out.

Anis stirred awake. Her muddled mind vaguely registered being tickled by something furry. Had her neighbor's cat snuck in again? But when she opened her eyes, she was tucked warm and cozy.

And all alone.

* * *

:: Um… yea, I thought this one was better. Ha ha… Don't judge me.


	2. Pharmacophobia

**Disclaimer: **_Barajou No Kiss _belongs to Shouoto Aya.

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**~2~**

**Pharmacophobia**

Ninufa had swallowed and spewed cards half of his size nearly his entire life; it was almost second-nature to him. So when he found out that Anis couldn't even summon the courage to swallow a 2-inch Sudafed tablet, he couldn't help feeling perplexed.

"Now, now, my Lady. It's just a small pill. Nothing to worry about," Tenjoh Mitsuru coaxed softly, nudging a glass of water to her lips.

Wide-eyed and ghostly pale, Anis rolled the smooth red pill between her fingertips, trying—and failing— to calm her hummingbird heart. From her viewpoint, the so-called tiny medicine could replace a walnut. She gulped. Ever since they found out she came down with a fever, all four Knights—including Ninufa— had burst into her room, armed with warm blankets, a first-aid kit and… pills. Unfortunately, none of them knew of her aversion to medicine, so it had taken them nearly half an hour to make her swallow a tiny prescription. Mitsuru had attempted mouth-to-mouth, but the result was a stinging red hand-print over his cheek, courtesy of Anis.

And so they tried a new strategy: pestering.

"Aw, c'mon! We ain't got all day. Just hurry up and swallow the damn thing before it melts!"

Anis averted her eyes from the pill to fix a sharp glare at her other 'guest'. One who was just as uninvited as the rest. "Don't pressure me, you idiot! I can't concentrate with your nagging me every two seconds!"

Kaede rolled his eyes. "You can face off against your crazy dad armed with nothing but a thick skull but you can't swallow a pill hardly bigger than a tooth. Figures."

"Um… you know… I could fix up some liquid remedy if Anis-sama'd like. I can't promise it won't taste bitter though," Seiran suggested nervously, trying to alleviate some of the rising tension between the Red Knight and their Rose Princess.

Anis closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, no, that's okay… I-I'll swallow 'em." Slowly, as if she was forced to commit suicide, she raised one to her lips… only to freeze when she noticed five pair of eyes staring at her intently. "All of you stop looking at me! You're making me nervous!"

A _snap. _

And then Mutsuki strode forward, snatched two pills in his hand and clamped it over her mouth and nose. She struggled, but he was inhumanly strong. "If you want to breathe, little miss, then I suggest you swallow these pills and get it over with," he threatened.

"Mutsuki! That is no way to treat our Dominion!" scolded the White Knight.

Only when he was sure she'd downed the pills that Mutsuki relinquished his hold, and Anis lurched forward with a gasp, coughing while holding her throat. Ninufa winced. He knew that this event would only make future pill-sessions a monstrous nightmare, especially with the Black Knight close by.


	3. Sock'n'Buskin

**Disclaimer: **_Barajou No Kiss _belongs to Shouoto Aya.

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**~3~**

**Sock'n'Buskin**

Anis curved her spine and breathed in the frosty morning air of early autumn. The faint scent of oven-fresh gooseberry pies winding out of bakery windows soothed her tender lungs like a balm. Now that her fever had broken, she felt ready to take on it all—Fake Knights, annoying Knights, crazy Daddies, blood-sucking machines, _and _school.

"_Mm, _pastries... Anis! What'dja say we skip school an' buy a bite?"

... Except pesky,bat-cat hybrids.

She turned her head to face him, her expression sketched in annoyance. "As if. I've been out of school long enough. Anymore and the disciplinary teach' is going to sink her braced teeth into my butt and inject me with her Nag Poison."

Ninufa grinned. "I'll let ya eat da crumbs."

"I'll let you taste my fist," Anis rejoined sweetly.

"Nah, your fist probably tastes like granny's feet."

Ninufa darted out of range just as she lunged for him, wriggling his velvet tushie at her. Anis bristled indignantly, and then… she saw it. Something. Ninufa 's sudden movement had sent him at an angle, where sunlight slanted _just so_ to eclipse his form in silhouette. Only, the outline was bigger, different, and then it was gone.

Anis cocked her head, curious. That brief moment, like a magician's trick of '_now you see it, and now you don't' _had happened before. At first it was petty—dismissible—but now it had happened one too many times for her to doubt it to be an illusion.

Ninufa drifted close, mirrored her tilted face, and asked, "What?"

"It's just… Sometimes I think I see you, but not you. Like there was someone else. I don't know." She shook her head, oblivious to the stray beat—_the falter_—of his fluttering wings.

Ninufa placed his paws to his mouth and snickered, leering at her. "Ooh, is Anis crushin' on Ninufa? How bold!"

"W-what?"

Hollow, white eyes danced with impish delight as he floated upside down. "You fantasized 'bout Ninufa. Love at first kiss, maybe? Didja' wanna do it again?"

Anis squeaked in aghast as he made smooching noises at her. Growling, she adjusted the bag strap on her shoulder, grumbled, "Whatever. Forget I said anything," and marched ahead. Her cheeks, moments ago cooled by autumn's breath, burned to the roots.

Minutes went by. The Rose Princess was a speck in the distance when he changed; his façade dropped, as if he was an actor taking off his smiling mask after a cut, exposing the real creature beneath.

The grim creature—wearied by smiling secrets and twisted wordplays.

"Bold, indeed. And not without guile, I must admit. It seems the centuries have done little to cripple your many talents," a familiar voice sounded.

Ninufa's head rotated slowly on his shoulders to regard the person standing several feet behind him, unchanging in his expression. The White Knight smiled. "How terribly tragic."

"Of course," he continued, footsteps striding forward, closer. "Such talents are necessary given the circumstances. In this, at least, I could factor in the fact that I am _grateful_ you're still what you were." His smile twisted at the corners, a crack of mania, and a glimpse of raw feeling. "A bane."

_Tch._

He knew the game, but Ninufa refused to play it. With a curl of his lip, he struck point blank. "She's blossoming faster than we realized, for her to have noticed me this early on. Tonight, only the waxing gibbous claim the skies."

Mitsuru hummed, circling him languidly—a leopard in the Savannah, searching his weak points, sizing him up to toy with. Regrettably, Ninufa wasn't that much sizeable to begin with.

"And I'm sure you realize as her wings start to unfurl, you're expected to retract yours?" Mitsuru inquired lightly, even as his eyes pierced.

"Keep your worries, White. Few will change even if she does find out. A little clairvoyance would do nothing to my bindings. Nothing."

Mitsuru stopped in front of him and leaned close. He placed his face next to his. "Ah, but one wonders what does? My Lady wouldn't have glimpsed your other form if your feelings hadn't had a play in it, and the more those feelings grow, the more the binds will rot. The first Rosettes might trust your volatile freedom on petty compassion, but I am skeptic. Some feelings can change as abrupt as the wind. I'll not risk her safety for _you to fall in love with her, only to be loose from your bindings and decide to decapitate her next._" Mitsuru's voice grew darker as his sentence trailed, old, old hate interlacing each harsh syllable. Yet his voice never rose.

Ninufa bit his tongue and kept his silence. The White Knight didn't understand. He'd never understand, for he wasn't Ninufa. He'd never had to endure the drag of centuries, the brutal experiences; only spliced memories of the previous White Rhode Knights before him. He would never know how delicately permanent the feelings of creatures like Ninufa were. And how sparingly they shared them.

Mitsuru straightened and brushed imaginary flint off his shoulders. "Well, as much as I'd like to stay here and chit-chat, the school bell will ring in about five minutes, and I have no desire to leave a tardy on my student record and make Lady Anis think less of me."

As if she doesn't think less of you already, thought Ninufa irritably.

Casually flicking his wrist, Mitsuru walked away and disappeared into the sea of students.

But not without a post scriptum:

_"Remember to keep your distance, Guardian."_

Ninufa snorted. "Of all da times you's decided _not_ ta take ya fancy-schmancy limo, White."

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:: This is… over the limit of 500 words, but blech. Couldn't resist. On another note, this chapter leans more towards the Buskin mask's Melpomene; muse of tragedy. You can google it if you don't know what that is.


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